I'm going to miss my old job and the wonderful people I have
had the privilege to work with. I have been really lucky to have the best
boss ever and have also been influenced and inspired by some of the brightest
and smartest.

In short, it's a bittersweet parting but I'm going to move
out and onward into the breach.

The job is with a lovely NGO that advocates children's
rights. Its certainly a lot more
fulfilling than corporate law and it’s the industry that I have always wanted
to work in.

In other news, I grieved hard for Terry Pratchett and am not
over it by a long shot. I am planning a
tattoo to commemorate him but more importantly – I went to a DISCWORLD
CONVENTION.

proper blue Feegles... crazy, oh and a balloon version

It was adorable and sweet and small. It was also local so it was easy to get to but
the price certainly wasn't cheap. That
was my fault, I bought a three day pass when I barely even spent a whole
day.

The convention is organised by the Australian Fanclub known
otherwise as Nullus Anxietas. They
organise the Discworld Convivium every year in different cities and it seems
that its predominantly a club affair.
Everyone seemed to know each other and it was a bit hard for me to insert
myself into a group that was already comfortable with its already existing
members.

Nonetheless, I ended up helping a girl set up her Dibbler
costume and assisted, by putting my fingers, there, and there, in hot glue
gunning a fantastically made cardboard Moving Pictures Iconograph (complete
with colour painting imp on the inside).

I tried to get photos of her but she vanished off with her friends and
then I couldn't find her after that, I didn't even get her name. Ah well.

There were genuine good cosplays though. I wont lie, I was impressed.

Commander Samuel Vimes of the Night Watch

The Best and Tallest Death cosplay. With a little Death of Rats on his shoulder

I sort of dressed up, I was a very pathetic looking Magrat,
but I think, more than anything, I just looked really tired and really
confused.

Best Cheery Littlebottom ever

I still managed to get away with some sweet, sweet loot. Most of it rare to get in Australia and very,
very official. Discworld fanart isn't
common, so there wasn't much by way of fan stuff to buy, even I have never considered
doing Pratchett fanwork, although maybe this year, I might do a tribute… we
shall see.

As we moved further into May and things got busy, I still
managed to get myself into the ocean.
Thus feeding my mermaid impulses.
However, it isn't always the best idea in winter. This time though, it was worth it.

I accidentally booked an Extreme (not that extreme) Shark
Dive at the Manly Seal Life Sanctuary on Mother's Day. Being a lady who not fussed, Mum considered it
a great opportunity to go to the beach and enjoy a nice coastal Mother's Day,
looking at fishies and laughing at me lolloping about in a shark tank.

The dive was incredible.
The Sanctuary has a relatively successful breeding program for penguins,
sharks and in particular, Grey Nurse Sharks, who look pretty intimidating, but
are more like barrels with decorative teeth.

Love meeeee

There were four of us including a couple who had never done
diving before. I did the beginners
session because I cannot consider myself an accomplished diver yet by any
stretch of the imagination, but it was great that I was not helped as much as
some of the others.

The couple, or at least the wife in that couple was pretty
terrified but definitely enjoyed herself.
We walked to a wide part of the exhibit and leaned against the glass
tunnel and just chilled there (literally) while our dive guides took photos of
the sharks having a curious peek. At one
point a huge turtle swam by and made a quick hello.

It was also a great introduction to the massive variety of
sharks that exist out there, some are so un-shark-like that I never would have
guessed.

Baby Bamboo Sharks the size of your palm

It certainly ratcheted up my interest for marine biology to
a whopping 235%. (I am seriously considering making the mistake possibly appplying to study Marine Biology or Environmental Management. No, I shouldn't do it because I don't want to be broke anymore.

The water however, was freezing. They sourced their seawater straight from the
beach itself and I needed to jump around and jog a bit to keep warm. As a result there is a video of me somewhere
in the Sanctuary archives of me dancing and generally acting a fool and pissing
off all the fish because I ain't got not grace nor style.

A Wobbegong Shark, lazy, squishy, adorable

It took all my discipline to try and not try and pet or
cuddle a shark. Seriously, they're really
cute. They look squishy, like they'd
make a weird honking noise if I squeezed one.

Thankfully, I am not stupid enough to actually do that.

Mum really enjoyed the day since she shares my love of
sealife as well and we managed to go in with the rest of the fam-bam later on
in the day to share the experience with my nieces, cousins, uncles and aunties.

Heeeey Guys!!!! I frigging love the doofy faces of Rays

It was a wonderful day and I do not regret the terrible cold
I caught as a result.

I have a another beach dive coming up in the next two weeks,
hopefully I either find a good camera housing or a decent underwater camera to
take some shots.

So now, I'm slowly getting through my stuff for Supanova,
and getting slightly excited for Joe Dimaggio who is going to be a guest at
Supa and oh. god. Marcus Fenix (also Bender, also Jake the dog) is going to be
there. I wonder if it is appropriate to
tell him all about the slash fiction I have had the dubious privilege of
actually finding online.

Anyhoo, its time to get back to making antlers and obsessing
over Conchita Wurst (OMG HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO LOVELY AND ELEGANT AND BEAUTIFUL
HOLY CRAP THAT CONCHY HAS REDEFINED EVERYTHING FOR ME), and also getting onto
some serious writing for an upcoming project that I'm excited to be
participating in.

But for now, I'll be killing Nekkers in swamps and possibly
flirting really, really badly with wenches and sorceresses because I love it
when I play Geralt as if he's a piss poor Casanova who probably gets the girls
because they feel a bit sorry for him.
Because seriously, those pick-up lines are awful.

No Geralt, they're not naughty girls, they'll kick your ass six ways from Sunday. But Vesemir probably likes to cuddle.